The wing of a United Airlines jet bound for Narita, Japan, struck an Alaska Airlines jet while pushing back from the terminal at Sea-Tac Airport Wednesday. Both planes were damaged but no one was injured.

United spokesman Jeff Green says the Boeing 777 was leaving the terminal with 217 passengers and 14 crew members when it hit the Alaska Airlines plane early in the afternoon. No one was injured, but flight 875 was delayed while the airline worked to fix a wing tip light.

Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Amanda Tobin says Alaska's Boeing 737-900 was parked at the gate with no one on board at the time of the accident. No one was injured, and she says the accident did not delay any flights since the airplane was not in service at the time.

At least United saved money by having lower paid employees doing the pushback instead of the better trained mechanics. That's wha'ts most important here.

Or...something like that.

I keep reading on this website from the anti-union crowd why it makes no business sense to have mechanics do receipt and dispatch (R&D), that's it's costly and unproductive. But take the long view...compare the higher labor cost for a mechanic to do R&D vs. all the damage done by rampers doing R&D instead (both to their company a/c and other aircraft...UA will have to pay for the damage the AS plane, too) and see how much is REALLY being saved in the end! Where were the wingwalkers in all of this? Why wasn't the person driving the tug fully aware of what was going around him/her?

I'd love to see figures on damages to aircraft before mechanics were forced to give up R&D vs. having the rampers do it. Similar time frames...not 25 years vs. 6 months...

Mechanics are responsible for the aircraft while it is on the ground...not the pilots, customer service, or flight attendants...the MECHANICS. And for that reason, among others, R&D should be done by MECHANICS, not rampers.

I am no English expert but doesn't 'collide' mean something more serious. Like high momentum mass to mass incident.
Granted I assumed it would be a small clipping incident with no fatalities/injuries but some people on this net should really check their grammar, so misconceptions do not develop (particular topic headers).

Quoting AirRyan (Reply 6):Union or not - those that can't figure it out need to be fired!

Attitudes like that kill people. Harsh punishments can cause incidents and aircraft damage to be covered up or not reported for fear of instant termination.

Granted, someone who makes repeated mistakes needs to be dealt with appropriately. Retraining or disciplinary action up to termination are some options.

This event was witnessed by many people, but had something similar happened in the middle of the night with no one around, why would the people responsible be inclined to report it? What if the damage was slight enough to not be seen by the flight crew on their walkaround but caused problems in flight?

Up here in Canada, Mechanics only push planes back if they are being towed to the maintenance hanger (AC). At AC, WJ and Globeground airlines the ramp workers push the aircraft back. With Globeground contracts we Two the aircraft to the Hanger if needed.

You really need to get over yourself Steve. I bet there were just as many accidents when the mechanics had R&D. Maybe your dad can tell me what his coworker was doing while he put this aircraft into the grass? Maybe thet should only have trained pilots do run ups huh?

Quoting RampRat74 (Reply 18):I bet there were just as many accidents when the mechanics had R&D.

Again...I'd love to see an independent, fact-based comparison covering similar time periods before I reevaluate my position. Short of that, I'll stand behind what I said.

Quoting RampRat74 (Reply 18):Maybe your dad can tell me what his coworker was doing while he put this aircraft into the grass? Maybe thet should only have trained pilots do run ups huh?

Not to nitpick, but this incident happened during the day, my Dad worked nights, so I know it wasn't someone on his crew. I don't know the facts behind this particular 737 incident at PDX, so to try to guess what happened here doesn't accomplish anything. In addition, the topic at hand is about R&D, not run-up and taxi incidents.

Would the pilots allow that kind of language (i.e. run ups) in their contract? I doubt it.

Quoting StevenUhl777 (Reply 12):I keep reading on this website from the anti-union crowd why it makes no business sense to have mechanics do receipt and dispatch (R&D), that's it's costly and unproductive. But take the long view...compare the higher labor cost for a mechanic to do R&D vs. all the damage done by rampers doing R&D instead (both to their company a/c and other aircraft...UA will have to pay for the damage the AS plane, too) and see how much is REALLY being saved in the end! Where were the wingwalkers in all of this? Why wasn't the person driving the tug fully aware of what was going around him/her?

Where is the correlation between union membership and competence? Are you stating that union members are more competent than non union members? It would serve to follow then that an employee could increase their competence by joining a union. How wonderful, what a great way to redeem incompetent workers... they join a union and are suddenly skilled.

Let's get to brass tacks, mechanics can get it wrong just as easily as ramp rats and wingwalkers. It's down to the INDIVIDUAL... the person makes the difference, not the union and not the workgroup. Where are the mechanics on the hundreds of UA flights pushed and received every day worldwide entirely without incident? What about the errors, accidents and collisions that happened on MX watch? Are you saying the rate of incident was lower? Provide a source, please.

Quoting StevenUhl777 (Reply 19):Again...I'd love to see an independent, fact-based comparison covering similar time periods before I reevaluate my position. Short of that, I'll stand behind what I said.

Review the NTSB database, I'm sure there are all kinds of incidents that could be attributed to mechanics on the ground, as well as others.

Shit happens, nothings perfect, and if it was... there would be a lot less jobs in aviation.

I've pushed quite a few planes back without any incedent, I'm not a mechanic and I don;t even work for an airline, I work for GlobeGround. I'm a ramper, we do all our pushes and tows, MX does the brakes, but at one time we did that too until a few incedents and Hudson General (at the time same company) decided it wasn't worth it so the mechanics do the brakes but that is all. I know at Air Canada the rampers do the normal push backs and tows for gate to gate, and maintenance does their tows to the hanger.

Quoting StevenUhl777 (Reply 19):Again...I'd love to see an independent, fact-based comparison covering similar time periods before I reevaluate my position. Short of that, I'll stand behind what I said.

It's fine to back up your opinion, regardless of how limited your tunnel vision is. Of course, your signature must not apply to yourself. Here's an example of these "expert mechanics"...

This spring...GQ had a plane clip a QX de-ice truck (was a/c N182YV I believe). Guess who was taxing it, AND who had declined a marshaler and a wing walker? You got it right, some mechanic. Remind you this was in the gate area. A lead ramper tried to get his attention, but he just taxied away...and right into the truck. Until I see this 'fact-based comparison', I'll stand by the fact that following SOP, even if it's around an MX hanger during R & D, an actual pilot and/or rampers seem to have a better clue as to how to handle aircraft.

Quoting StevenUhl777 (Reply 19):Again...I'd love to see an independent, fact-based comparison covering similar time periods before I reevaluate my position. Short of that, I'll stand behind what I said

Well, the mechanics only did the R&D in about 25% of the system stations. That means Ramp Servicemen, and Customer Service reps have been doing R&D in 75% of the system before the mechanics lost it. If us ramp rats, and keyboard pushers were damaging so many aircraft in the past twenty years. Why didn't WHQ have maintenance take over R&D in all the stations then? I don't care if it's a $30.00 a hour mechanic, or a $8.00 a hour ramper. Things like this happen.